Suspended sliding door



7, 1955 T. c. COWDROY SUSPENDED SLIDING DOOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug.14, 1955 INVE/VTO/Q 7/7012, CL/VE Con 0&0)

x9 TfoE/VEY Dec. 27, 1955 c, CQWDROY 2,728,101

SUSPENDED SLIDING DOOR Filed Aug. 14, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 77! 0 22 Q/9 5-15 :12 2/ Q [a /4 16 i 20 22 g I/VI ENTO/Q 2,728,101 Patented Dec.27, 1955 2,728,101 SUSPENDED SLIDING DOOR Thorp Clive Cowdroy, Sydney,New South Wales, Australia Application August 14, 1953, Serial No.374,326 1 Claim. (CI. 16-88) This invention relates to a suspendedsliding door mounted upon an overhead rail by means of an improvedhanger.

Suspended slidable doors are known and they are usually required to haveheavy cumbersome roller equipment whereby they may be operated andfurthermore they usually require considerable manual power to move themfrom one position of operation to another.

An object of the present invention is to provide a suspended slidingdoor w ch is free from the above disadvantages and which is relativelylight and easily operated.

The present invention includes ball bearings disposed in a ball trackportion of a hanger carried by the door which together with the door issuspended upon an elongated rail secured to the door frame adjacent tothe door opening and which is received within the hanger.

According to the present invention the hanger is adapted to be securedto the upper portion of the sliding door adjacent to the top edgethereof the said hanger extends upwardly and terminates in what may betermed a hooklike ball track portion which is substantially cylindricalin elongation.

The hanger has a long limb and a short limb the said long limb isintegral with the base or main portion of the hanger which is attachedto the upper portion of the door.

The short limb of the hanger is such that in addition to playing itspart in forming the ball track proper it is designed to enable it to belifted over the said elongated rail which is provided to slidablysupport the door.

Within the ball track portion of the hanger a plurality of ball bearingsare located the number of ball bearings being such that they togetheroccupy a space equal to one-half of the total length of the said hangerin order to ensure free movement of the door upon the rail.

The elongated rail is required to be ofiset with respect to its support,the degree of oifset being such that the said elongated rail is receivedin a bifurcated portion of the hanger formed between the said long legand short leg thereof when the door is in its suspended position andwith the said ball bearings disposed in the ball track and resting uponan arcuate upper surface of the rail.

The lower portion of the door is provided with a guide member tomaintain the door in alignment.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood referencewill now be made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view illustrating the improved sliding door inposition adjacent to a door opening.

Figure 2 is a detail perspective view of the door showing the upper andlower metal fittings.

Figure 3 is an end elevational view corresponding to Figure 2, and alsoshe ing a cover strip.

The door 10 which is adapted to slide across the door opening 11 for thepurpose of closing the latter, has sescrews 13 passed through a baseflange 14 of the said ball track fitting 12, a cover strip 9 is providedto screen the fitting 12 from view.

The said hanger 12 extends upwardly from the said base flange 14 andterminates in a substantially cylindrisaid hanger 12 to be lifted overan elongated supporting rail 18 provided to slidably support the door10.

To ensure maximum freedom of movement of the door the said ball trackportion 15 receives a plurality of half of the total length of the saidball track fitting 12.

The elongated supporting rail 18 is secured to the door head 20 adjacentto the opening 11 by means such as screws 21, and the said rail 18 isofiset with respect to its support the degree of offset being such thatthe said rail 18 may be disposed between the said long limb 16 and shortlimb 17 of the hanger 12 when the door 10 is suspended for operation.

The said elongated rail 18 has an upper arcuate surface 22 upon whichthe said ball bearings 19 are adapted to roll.

To ensure correct alignment and guide the lower portion of the door 10the latter has a channel 23 to receive a guide member 24 adapted to besecured to the floor 25 adjacent to the door 10 and the said guidemember 24 may be recessed in a groove 26 in the floor 25 or it may besecured directly to the floor as seen in Figure 3.

In use the door slides freely and is such that it may be placed inposition upon the rail 18 and may be just as easily removed therefromWithout the need for removing any of the fittings or attachmentsthereof.

I claim:

In an elongated door hanger and supporting rail and door of thecharacter described, a hanger of unitary construction extending the fullwidth of the said door, having a base flange by which the said hanger isattached to the door, a long limb extending vertically upward from thesaid base, said long limb terminating in a substantially cylindricalball bearing track, a plurality of ball bear- References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 223,941 Monteer Jan. 27, 1880565,915 McIntyre Aug. 18, 1896 1,731,801 Tracy Oct. 15, 1929 FOREIGNPATENTS 527,926 Germany June 23, 1931

